Executive Engineer caught taking bribe from contractor

Deogarh: An Executive Engineer of Minor Irrigation Division in Deogarh was arrested by the Vigilance sleuths on Saturday while accepting a bribe of Rs 21,000 from a contractor.

The executive engineer, identified as Rabindra Kumar Mehto, had reportedly sought Rs 21,000 bribe from a contractor Dilip Kumar Padhi for passing the latter's pending bills.

“A bill of Rs 10.5 lakh against the construction of a building at MRP Colony was pending since the last 11 months as Mehto was delaying the matter over bribe. I later convinced him to clear the bill by assuring him to give two per cent (Rs 21,000) of the bill,” alleged Padhi.

Later, Padhi approached the Vigilance DSP and filed a complaint against the executive engineer.

Acting on the complaint, the Vigilance sleuths laid a trap and caught Mehto red-handed while accepting the bribe amount from Padhi in his (Mehto) office.

Mehto was subsequently arrested and a search was also conducted at his government quarters in Deogarh.